'45, but I know more definitely about '44. We have to have something so we can segregate that ballot mail and give it the priority. That is one of the reasons why the Secretary of War recommended the distinctive marking, and it has been incorporated in this bill as a recommendation. If a State does not somehow identify it we just cannot pull it out. In that case the ballot might take a long time.

This [showing post card] is the post card application that was used in '44, and this [indicating marking on card] is the distinctive marking that we have recommended: the two red bars with the printing between them, the "Free air mail" indicia up here, and the return address here. I hope most of the States will continue to adopt it in their administrative procedure.

Mr. LECOMPTE. We used light paper, did we not? I have understood that some of the States thought that it would be better not to use the lightweight paper this year.

Colonel WILLIS. Then you have the question of bulk by air.
Mr. LECOMPTE. But the number would not be as great.

Colonel WILLIS. We do not have as many airplanes, either, and while individually it does not seem to amount to very much, as in this case this year, there will still be several hundred thousand ballots.. It mounts up pretty fast. This bill, in granting free postage, provides that the State balloting unit must be one ounce or less. In '44 there were only five States that had ballots that weighed over 1 ounce. One ballot weighed 2.2 ounces. It had a very heavy envelope and it had a little tin box in it about [indicating] that long and that wide, together with a little rubber stamp. Thus, they sent along the stamp pad and rubber stamp, and they had what Colonel Cutler used to call a "horse blanket" ballot, so we figured out that for this particular State which did not have too many ballots, fortunately, we had to carry 500 pounds of ballots so you can see what it means.. Mr. VURSELL. Might I inquire what State it was?

Colonel WILLIS. I do not want to indict any particular State, but I think it is in the Senate Document No. 6, Seventy-ninth Congress. It was Nevada.

Mr. VURSELL. Maybe they have changed, or will change after a while.

The CHAIRMAN. Are there any other questions?

Colonel WILLIS. I think somebody asked me a question about the number of men we have overseas. I have that here. We have some more or less informal figures here that I made up relating to October of this year, which is about the time of the general election balloting. The estimated total of Army men will be 1,335,000, of which about 750,000 will be overseas. Then we have taken that figure and reduced it by the men of voting age. We estimate that the men under 21 now are about 30 percent of the Army, so that reduces the figure 30 percent, which means there will be approximately 934,000 men in the Army of voting age overseas and in this country. The number of men of voting age overseas will be about 525,000, so that is quite a substantial figure that will still be overseas.

Mr. VURSELL. I notice in this bill, Colonel, you have taken out that extra cautious part of the bill which refuses them the right to read anything much.

Colonel WILLIS. That was Title V. This is a bill just relating to the voting procedures.

Mr. VURSELL. Will that title still remain in the bill?

Colonel WILLIS. That title will still remain in effect. The bill leaves in effect 'Title I and Title V.

Mr. VURSELL. I do not think it was very important anyhow.

The CHAIRMAN. Are there any other questions? Mr. Patterson? Mr. PATTERSON. I have no questions.

The CHAIRMAN. Gentlemen, down through page 8 are all recommendations. I want to ask this question of the committee. Do you prefer proceeding now with the bill, or do you prefer hearing witnesses from the Coast Guard, the Navy, and the War Shipping Administration, and Mr. Haddock?

Mr. VURSELL. Mr. Chairman, they have heard the testimony of Colonel Willis, and unless his testimony has raised certain questions I think we might proceed with the bill. But if it has raised certain questions, I think these gentlemen ought to be heard, briefly.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes. Suppose we take next the Navy. Does the Navy desire to testify in bringing up any new matter that Colonel Willis has not brought up?

STATEMENT OF COMMANDER W. F. CALLAHAN, NAVY WAR

BALLOT OFFICER

Commander CALLAHAN. I think Colonel Willis has covered this thing very thoroughly. The Navy favors the enactment of this bill because it would simplify our administrative procedures. We feel it could be handled very much easier than under the present law.

There is one other factor, and that is the uncertainty in the present law as to the date on which it will terminate.

The CHAIRMAN. The date on which what will terminate?

Commander CALLAHAN. The present law, Public Law 712, as amended, would be suspended in the event of a declaration the war has ended, and for that reason we would like to see this proposed bill enacted.

The CHAIRMAN. Do any of the members of the committee desire to ask the commander any questions?

Mr. COMBS. I want to ask the commander, for the record and for my own information, if your suggestion of uncertainty as to when the present law would terminate is based on whether it was an emergency measure passed to meet the conditions of the last election only?

Commander CALLAHAN. It states in the bill, "voting in time of war," and I was wondering what we would do if some of these present bills were passed declaring that the war had ended as of a certain date, because we are required, of course, to proceed with the preparations to carry out the provisions of the present law and then, if they were suspended at some point short of the election date, there would be a very considerable doubt raised as to whether we were legally entitled to continue that.

Mr. LECOMPTE. I think we had better look into that point.
Mr. COMBS. If this bill is passed it will remedy that difficulty.
Mr. MANASCO. This is permanent legislation.

The CHAIRMAN. A Presidential proclamation or act of Congress would end the present bill.

Mr. MANASCO. But if this bill were enacted it would make the existing law permanent law.

The CHAIRMAN. That is correct.

Are there any further questions?

Commander CALLAHAN. I would like to state that I have with me Lt. Leo Seybold, who succeeded Colonel Cutler as executive officer of the United States War Ballot Commission.

The CHAIRMAN. Is there any comment that Lieutenant Seybold desires to make?

Lieutenant SEYBOLD. I do not believe I have.

The CHAIRMAN. War Shipping Administration is represented by Mr. A. L. Jordan.

STATEMENT OF A. L. JORDAN, WAR SHIPPING ADMINISTRATION

Mr. JORDAN. We have a few clarifying amendments, which we presented before the other committee, and if they are not before you you may wish to hear them. We have taken them up with the Army and the Navy and we understand they are satisfactory to them, as they apply to the merchant marine.

The CHAIRMAN. There has been mutual agreement by the Army and Navy and War Shipping Administration as to your amendments? Mr. JORDAN. That is right.

The CHAIRMAN. Suppose we pass over that and hear such other persons as wish to testify in general on the bill.

Mr. MANASCO. Colonel Willis has those amendments with him.

The CHAIRMAN. I thought we would hear the various witnesses and then take this up and run through the bill beginning on page 9. I think everyone will agree that the bill is perfectly satisfactory through page 8. Is that the feeling of the committee?

Now then, we will proceed with the Coast Guard. Is there anyone present representing the Coast Guard?

STATEMENT OF LT. COMDR. ALEXANDER W. WUERKER, UNITED STATES COAST GUARD, PLANNING OFFICER, UNITED STATES COAST GUARD HEADQUARTERS

Commander WUERKER. I have nothing in particular to add. The view of the Coast Guard is that they believe the bill should be enacted. The CHAIRMAN. And you would like to put your statement in the record at this point?

Commander WUERKER. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, it will be included in the record at this point.

Commander WUERKER. This is the report which was prepared by the Coast Guard for the signature of the Secretary of the Treasury. It is, of course, addressed to the Chairman of the Committee on Privileges and Elections, United States Senate. There was not time, as in the case of the Army, to prepare a special report to this committee.

The CHAIRMAN. With the permission of the Army, Navy, and Coast Guard, we will change the address so it will apply to this committee. Commander WUERKER. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. You agree with the testimony so far, and the approval of the Army and Navy of the pending bill?

Commander WUERKER. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Then we will just include it in the record.

Hon. HERBERT C. BONNER,

Chairman, Committee on Election of President, Vice President, and Representatives in Congress, House of Representatives.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: There is pending before your committee H. R. 5644, "to facilitate voting by members of the armed forces and certain others absent from the place of their residence, and to amend Public Law 712, Seventy-seventh Congress, as amended."

The proposed legislation would make permanent the wartime servicemen's absentee voting law and would extend the voting privilege to all civilian employees outside the United States officially attached to and serving with the armed forces. The principal change which would be effected by H. R. 5644 would be the elimination of the so-called Federal ballot, which was provided to allow servicemen from States which had no absentee voting to vote in the national election.

This Department is committed to the principle that every possible aid should be extended to members of the military and naval services to express their free choice in the selection of Senators, Representatives and other elected officials. H. R. 5644 embraces the results of previous considerations to assist in this program and this Department believes that H. R. 5644 should be enacted.

The Director, Bureau of the Budget, has advised this Department informally that the submission of this report is in conformity with the program of the President.

Very truly yours,

Secretary of the Treasury.

The CHAIRMAN. The Post Office Department is represented by Mr. Roy Martin.

STATEMENT OF ROY M. MARTIN, DEPUTY SECOND ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL, POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT

Mr. MARTIN. My name is Roy M. Martin, Deputy Second Assistant Postmaster General. I have with me Mr. Nelson B. Wentzel, who is Deputy Third Assistant Postmaster General.

We

The Post Office report has not cleared through the Budget. anticipate no difficulty in that respect, however, because of the approval of these other reports, and the Post Office Department has no objection to the passage of the proposed bill, and wishes to cooperate in carrying it out as far as practicable.

We have felt that we should call your attention to one very serious difficulty that we will encounter, and that is with reference to members of the merchant marine, who will become civilian employees and who will be probably in foreign ports where foreign postal services would have to be utilized in order to transmit the ballots. We have no way in which we can accord free postage privileges for matter going through foreign postal channels. There will be no difficulty so far as United States mail is concerned, so far as our jurisdiction extends; so long as there are fleet post offices and Army post offices still in existence, vessels touching at those points can no doubt pass their ballot material through Army post office channels or fleet post office channels. But if it is necessary for them to be delivered or carried from points where foreign postal administrations will have to be

employed, there is no way that we can accord free mailing privileges there, and our suggestion that we made to the Senate committee was simply, on page 4, lines 13 and 14 I believe, where it says "shall be accorded free postage, including air mail" that there be added "except in the international postal service." That would clarify the matter so far as we are concerned.

Mr. COMBS. It would not change the condition, but would simply emphasize the fact that you do not have the authority to extend it. The CHAIRMAN. Merely add the words "United States" before "postage."

Mr. MARTIN. I think the Senate did determine on that. That is the amendment the Post Office Department would offer, that it merely applies to United States postage. We can only afford free postage privileges so far as our jurisdiction extends.

The CHAIRMAN. I would think that is understandable, and I would not think there would be any objection to that.

Mr. MARTIN. Other than that, Mr. Chairman, we have no suggestions to make.

Mr. MANASCO. I move the adoption of the amendment.
Mr. VURSELL. I second the motion.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you have a statement, Mr. Wentzel?

Mr. WENTZEL. No; the Third Assistant's Bureau had the administration of this law in the inception of this material. We have much correspondence from the States as to just what they can send and how they shall prepare it, and in that way our Bureau is involved, and we shall do everything we can as we have in the past to effectuate this bill if it becomes a law.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Haddock, we will hear you before I put the motion.

STATEMENT OF HOYT S. HADDOCK, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, CIO MARITIME COMMITTEE

Mr. HADDOCK. Mr. Chairman, my name is Hoyt S. Haddock, executive secretary, CIO Maritime Committee.

We appear on behalf of 220,000 licensed officers, radio operators, unlicensed seamen, inland boatmen, longshoremen, fishermen, and allied maritime workers, affiliated to the CIO maritime committee through seven units, to urge that adequate time be given for consideration of H. R. 5644, the bill now before the committee, and that it be substantially revised before any action is taken.

We are seriously disturbed by the precipitous action in the Senate on a companion measure, S. 1876, which was introduced into the Senate on March 1. On March 13 the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections met in executive session and ordered the bill reported favorably. Despite the great interest of several million servicemen. and of 200,000 merchant seamen in this measure no public hearings were held. Interested organizations such as the veterans' groups, the seamen's organizations, the League of Women Voters, and many others, had little time to study the provisions of the bill before the committee acted.

We have been informed by the clerk of this committee that in all probability only a single day's hearings would be held on H. R. 5644.